Tag Archives: David Oakes

Showtime is known for producing hit series such as “The Tudors” and “The Sopranos.”
Now, Showtime has produced a combination hit with the original crime family, “The Borgias.”

“The Borgias” first aired in April 2011 and had the highest ratings for a Showtime season premier in the past seven years. The show began to take shape in 2010 during the final season for “The Tudors” after four popular seasons.

The show is set in Rome and the Vatican in the year 1492. Rodrigo Borgia is in control of the papacy and holds this position through unscrupulous means and continues to use those around him to achieve advancement for the Borgia family.

The first season of “The Borgias” has Rodrigo Borgia a.k.a Pope Alexander, played by award-winning actor Jeremy Irons, winning the cardinal conclave of votes to become Pope of Rome through bribery and other “unholy” means. The newly elected Pope has three sons and a daughter from courtesan Vanozza dei Cattanei (Joanne Whalley), whom Rodrigo leaves for another mistress, Giulia Farnese (Lotte Verbeek).

Juan (David Oakes) the eldest son of Rodrigo, is a hot-tempered soldier with a deadly concern for his own interests; Cesare (Francois Arnaud) the second eldest son, has followed his father into the church as a cardinal but has hired an assassin to work for him in the Borgia family name; and Joffre (Aidan Alexander) the youngest son, is still too young to cause much trouble. The most famous Borgia, Lucrezia (Holliday Grainger), transforms from a young girl into a woman through the murderous death of her friend Djem (Elyes Gabel), an arranged marriage to an abusive husband and pregnancy out of wed-lock.

The season two promo trailer aired on Showtime in Dec., but as of yet is not available online. If you weren’t lucky enough to see it, it is fair to say that season two of “The Borgias” will be darker and more dangerous. The situations Lucrezia faced in season one has given her the fuel to develop her infamously dark reputation. We get a taste of the murderous Lucrezia as she lights a rope on fire that is attached to a chandelier. The metal chandelier hanging over the bed of a passionate couple falls fast. It doesn’t clearly show who she is murdering, but it definitely does its job plying fans with curiosity. Brothers Juan and Cesare appear to be even more at odds and I’m taking a historic guess that their rivalry may become deadly. The King of France has been “welcomed” into Italy and handed a plague infested Napels to rule, I’m sure he isn’t happy about that and in reality the Borgias want him gone. A war is on the verge.

Rodrigo is finding more lovers, as well as is his mistress Giulia Farnese; and from the trailer, it appears as though one of her lovers may even be Vanozza, Rodrigo’s previous paramour and the mother to his children …